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Royce Gracie giving a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu seminar. Photo by MartialArtsNomad.com-

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Royce Gracie

Royce Gracie is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist, a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and a UFC Hall of Famer. He is one of the most important figures in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA).

He was ranked by Inside mixed martial art (MMA) as the third-greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time in 2008.

Learn more about Royce Gracie in these top 10 fascinating facts.

1. He is the son of a Jiu-Jitsu Grandmaster

Royce Gracie was born on November 12, 1996, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is one of the nine sons of jiu-jitsu grandmaster Helio Gracie, having learned the art from his father since childhood.

Gracie started participating in  art competition at age 8 and started teaching classes when he was 14. At 17, he was awarded a black belt by his father, Helio.

Gracie’s elder brother Rorion Gracie had moved to Torrance, California, in 1978 and established Gracie academy. Later Gracie and his brothers Royler and Rickson Gracie moved to Torrance, California, to join their elder brother.

2. Gracie and His Brothers used to challenge the Martial artist to Gracie Challenge

Royce Gracie. Photo by Peter Gordon-

While in the United States, Gracie and his brother continued the family tradition of the Gracie Challenge, in which they challenged other martial artists to a no-holds-barred Vale Tudo match in their gym to prove the superiority of Gracie jiu-jitsu.

The elder brother Rorion Gracie would record and edit footage from the Gracie Challenge fights and combine it into a documentary series called Gracie in Action with some footage featuring Royce’s fights.

The Grace in Action tapes inspired Art Davie to create the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

3. Gracie is a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Practitioner

After his retirement, he continued revolutionizing Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (also known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), a martial art and combat sport based on ground fighting and submission holds.

Gracie has set up schools throughout the world to continue teaching Jiu-Jitsu. Despite being a 7th-degree coral belt, he wears a dark blue belt when training to play homage to his father, Helio Gracie.

His father wore a dark blue belt despite having the highest possible rank, a red belt, his father died in 2009.

4. Gracie Reached Fame for his Success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Gracie started fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993, amassing many wins. His first match was with journey boxer Art Jimmerson. At the end of the UFC tournament, he was the winner.

He continued participating in UFC and won UFC 2 and UFC 4, which at the time was an openweight single-elimination tournament with minimum rules.

Gracie was known for his rivalry match with Ken Shamrock, whom he knocked in UFC 1 and then contested to a draw in the Superfight Championship rematch at UFC 5.

5. Gracie Fought at the PRIDE Fighting Championship

Royce Gracie. Photo by Peter Gordon-

Gracie was to make his first debut in PRIDE Fighting Championship in PRIDE 2, even in 1998. He was to match against UFC champion Mark Kerr. The Gracie side ordered special rules that were accepted without a time limit or referee stoppage. However, Gracie pulled out due to a back injury after the fight had been advertised.

His first event was in the PRIDE Grand Prix 2000, an openweight event. In this event, he was remembered for his 90-minute bout against Kazushi Sakuraba.

While playing for PRIDE Fighting Championship, he is remembered for a controversial 鈥淛udo vs. Jiu-Jitsu mixed rules matched against Olympic gold-medalist in Judo Hidehiko Yoshida at Pride Shockwave in 2002.

6. Gracie Was Sued by Pride

In September 2004, Gracie disagreed with pride about participating in the 2005 pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Gracie had issues with the proposed opponents’ rules ( Grand Prix fights must have a winner and cannot end in a draw).

Gracie then went to Fighting and Entertainment Group鈥檚 K-1 organization (a Japanese combat sports promoter). Pride sued him for breaching his contract with them.

The breach case was settled in December 2005, with Gracie issuing a public apology, blaming his actions on a misinterpretation of the contract by his manager.

7. During his Martial Career, he was Accused of Using Steroids

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) declared that Gracie had tested positive for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, after his fight with Sakuraba on June 14, 2007.

According to the commission samples, Gracie had over 50 ng/ml. The level itself was so elevated that it would register on the laboratory calibrators, said the CSAC.

Gracie was fined $2,500, which he paid and suspended for the remainder of his license. The suspension ended on May 30, 2008.

Gracie disputed the allegation during an online video interview in May 2009. He claimed that his weight during the UFC event was 178 bl and during his fight with Sakuraba, he weighed 180 bl, thus gaining only 2 pounds. Experts widely disputed this.

8. Gracie Retired from Mixed Martial Arts in 2013

Royce Gracie giving a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu seminar. Photo by MartialArtsNomad.com-

His profile was added to the ufc.com active fighters list as a middleweight on March 11, 2011.

Gracie’s manager stated that they were actively negotiating with UFC for a return to the Octagon and said it was just a matter of 鈥済etting it nailed down鈥� and that there was plenty of time for it.

During the 20th anniversary of UFC on November 15, 2013, Gracie confirmed to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani that he had retired from competing in mixed martial arts.

9. After Retirement, Gracie Focused on Teaching jiu-jitsu

After retiring from the MMA competition, Grace has been focusing on teaching jiu-jitsu. He travels worldwide to schools, teaching in seminars and doing interviews in magazines, websites and talk shows.

Gracie has opened his associations of gyms known as鈥� Royce Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Network鈥� with affiliate schools in 34 locations in the United States and many throughout the world in Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Guatemala, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

10. Gracie Divorced his Wife

Gracie was married to his former wife, Marianne, and they had three sons and a daughter; his son Kheydon Gracie enlisted in the US Army. In 2016 Grace filed for divorce.

On April 1, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent Gracie and his wife a Notice of a deficiency, claiming they owe $657,114 in back taxes and $492,835.25 in penalties for Civic Fraud, based on IRC 6663(a).